Galactic Nexus/Episode 11: A Disposable Defective
A Disposable Defective is the eleventh episode of the first season of Galactic Nexus. Story so far "As inscribed in the prophecy, a young man named Frisch Celerent walks on a path where the future of being the ruler of time and space, the Harvester, awaits him. The aftermath of the battle drew nearer and nearer as the Celerent brothers managed to go toe-to-toe with Locar, probably leaving the others in the dust. Meanwhile, Verzleinir had almost been defeated by Ishvati were it not for the former's wit. The latter surprised me, seeing how he almost gave a deathblow to him by his lonesome... until he collapsed from using his powers for a long while. But why? My host probably knows. And looks like Verzleinir played the secret helper card, yet I cannot help but feel dubious. But Master Altus must have reasons; lies cannot escape his eyes, after all. But anyway, such marks the tenth page of the history of the Harvester in another realm." — Irissia Roleplay It wouldn't be long in the medical tent before Ishvati regained consciousness, though he did not open his eyes quite yet. He seemed to listen for the ambient noises of battle, but when he didn't hear those sounds, he just let out a light groan; especially when the pain of cauterized wounds and exhaustion crept in. He blearily rubbed his eyes and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position before opening his dichromatic eyes for the group to see—his left eye a permanent bloodshot red and his right eye an emerald-green. "... Unghh..." he groaned, glancing around cautiously. Still, he seemed a little relaxed for reasons unknown to him, maybe it was because the medical bag was comfortable. "...O-Oh! Se-Seele, h-h-he's waking up!" Ishvati would hear a voice next to him, which had a shy tone of voice. While he wouldn't be able to tell from the voice, the individual who spoke was Julia. He might recognize her from earlier, though not by name most likely. Still, when he opened his eyes, he could see that she (and possibly Seele) was standing next to the hospital bed that he was on. Upon seeing that one of his eyes were bloodshot, Julia felt a little worried for their ally. "U-Um... he-hello..." Julia would greet the injured Ishvati, giving a slight and shy wave of her hand. "H-H-How are you fe-feeling?" she asked. Now, this was all new to him, so his first response was to remain silent and stare; and he actually did this for all of five seconds. But he remembered what an old friend named Ranseith would say; one of the few times he wouldn't immediately discard his advice actually. "I'm... fine, I suppose," he forced out, though it should be obvious that he wasn't so much trying to be rude as he was socially unskilled. In other words, shit at talking to people. "Seems you exerted yourself too much," another female voice revealed itself upon Ishvati—a curvy blonde sitting next to Julia. It was Seele, the girl who took him into the tent. "Don't worry though, we managed to stabilize it; you'll be fine," she added, along with a reassuring smile. Julia seemed to not have taken it as rude, so that was a plus. In fact, she recognized how socially inept he was, probably since she was somewhat the same way or she was just experienced with it in general. "Th-That's good to he-hear..." she replied, falling silent afterwards as if allowing Seele the chance to talk. In doing so she glanced down at the floor for a little bit. Upon hearing "we" in Seele's statement, she jolted her head back up to face Ishvati. "We-We-Well um, mo-mostly Seele di-did... bu-but still!" she clarified quickly but nervously, trying to give credit where it was due. From the sounds of things, she probably came for moral support or out of concern... or maybe both. Hard to tell. Ishvati just sort of stared at them during the course of the entire interaction Seele and Julia had with each other, almost as if he was puzzled. Though when Seele said he overexerted himself, he just shrugged, she wasn't wrong after all. There was just not much he could say about it. "I am Seele, and this is Julia," she introduced herself to him. "And your name and where you're from?" "He-Hello..." Julia said when Seele mentioned her name. She slightly waved again, adding a shy smile as if trying to be friendly. "... Ishvati," he responded, glancing over to Seele. His voice was generally rather monotonous when he spoke. "I'm from Prisein... Or was it Prisdrei...?" Seele raised an eyebrow. She took mental notes of his rather distinct physical features that set him apart from the people of such areas on Crystialga. No, more like continents. Regardless, a question was raised in her mind. Why does he not know where he exactly is from? Memory loss? Or perhaps the time period he originated, since he was wearing articles of clothing that was rooted to the late 1st century of Crystialgan history. To her, he looks like a person of the far west of Crystialga—in short, a Prisnullian. Most of them were people with a strong tan complexion due to them living in a large desert. But this boy... It was as if the bandages were not a dead give-away already of how his skin is so pale unlike most of his fellow folk. "I... see," was all she could say... for now. Her first impressions of Ishvati seemingly held her back from asking more questions at the moment. Ishvati just remained quiet otherwise, there was no further need for him to speak; instead he forced himself to stand up. Ignoring the protests his body gave him as easily as he ignored the bubbling hate for himself on a daily basis. Julia's eyes widened a bit when Ishvati just stood on up from the bed, and immediately she stood up from her chair. "Wa-Wait, sh-sh-shouldn't you re-rest?" She asked out of concern for his well-being, while also preparing herself to catch him should he ever fall down. Would she even catch him though? Well, only one way to find out. He managed to get four shaky steps in, before his legs abruptly decided to go on a sudden strike and stop working; most likely sending him falling forward despite the fact that he wasn't even seriously injured. "E--Eep!" Julia quickly sprung into action, intercepting his fall with her arms as she desperately tried to keep him up. Hopefully he wasn't too heavy otherwise she would be struggling. But he weighed 70 kilograms, so whether or not that was too heavy for Julia was completely dependent on her own physical ability. Fortunately for her, all that changed when he did land. Julia was shocked when she noticed that Ishvati was so light when she caught him. But what happened exactly? It was because of an ethereal appendage that caught him just in time. Since the two have powers related to the arcane, they are able to see its wispy turquoise hue and its ectoplasmic consistency. So undoubtedly, she did notice the turquoise hue around Ishvati, which led her to believe that someone else assisted in the endeavor. Her glance towards Seele pretty much confirmed this for her, who was smiling in a low-key sly manner. "You really have to rest for now," Seele advised Ishvati with a mellow tone. "I can't rest now.. Have to push forward, never stop moving forward.." Ishvati hissed slightly. There was no real bite in his voice but anyone could tell that he wasn't the type to remain still for long periods of time, not when there was work that needed to be done. The fact that he did not want to rest kind of put Julia into a kind of predicament. "Bu-But... y-y-you're really hurt... I-I-I think you should re-rest for now, so-so your wounds ca-can heal..." she said, sounding more nervous than usual. She indeed could tell that he didn't like sitting around, hence why she was nervous - though mainly it was because the thought of him lashing out at her appeared in her thoughts and it got her anxious. Ishvati's response was admittedly light struggling that lasted for a few seconds, before the full extent of his exhaustion finally caught up to him and he fell limp in Julia's arms. In any case, Seele had made Julia's load much lighter. She let out a soft sigh of relief, not exactly because he was exhausted but because it allowed his body to rest. She did not want any further casualties, as they already had one before. "That's a given..." Julia felt the light struggling and knew that he really didn't like this—but it was for his own good. So when he fell limp in her arms, she would carefully set him back on the bed, laying him on his back. "I-I-It'll be okay, re-really... u-um... w-w-we'll make sure y-you're nursed to full he-health. O-Or if Seele's busy th-th-then I'll stay, a-a-and vice versa... o-okay?" she said to him, still speaking nervously yet somehow having a caring tone in her voice. With no real option otherwise, and as much as he disliked this fact, Ishvati let out a silent grunt. But otherwise made no protest against such an action. It felt strangely nostalgic to him, he didn't understand why. "I'm simply disposable.. You don't need to count me as a casualty were I to fall." "Wh-Wha? Bu-But you're not di-di-disposable," Julia said with her eyebrows raised, evidently taken by surprise by his statement. Of course while he hated himself to a huge degree, she didn't know that - at least not yet. "Wh-Wh-Why would you th-think that...?" she couldn't help but ask, mainly out of concern. "If you say it like that... then you have nothing to lose?" Seele asked him on point. "It's common knowledge that you throw away something that is defective," Ishvati responded to Julia, giving her a flat stare as usual, before turning to Seele. "I have nothing to lose, you would be correct." "De-De-Defective?" Julia was even more surprised. What did he mean by defected? She couldn't help but ask about it. "Wh-Wh-Why do you s-say that? Y-You aren't defective at a-a-all..." she said. Seele blinked twice. It was easy for them to say such words. "Easy for both of you to say... Ishvati, don't you have any comrades who look after you...? Perhaps old friends, if not a family? Throwing your life so easily is selfish—someone would be saddened for your death." And then she looked at Julia. "You may think that way about him, but you will not be so sure. But I am sure he has reasons for considering himself one." Unfortunately for Seele, Ishvati likely did not have those, or at least he did not feel as if he did, so his response was an admittedly dark one. ".. No one would miss me, I'm simply a defective." Julia took a glance over to Seele when she first interjected. "Wh-Wha? Wh-Wh-What do you mean?" she would ask at first, unknowing what she did. Then Seele explained. And while she didn't like having her opinion shot down, Seele did have a point. I mean, she barely knew him after all. She would glance down at the floor for a bit, all nervous-like, before glancing over to Ishvati. "U-Um... i-i-if you don't mind me-me asking... wh-why are you de-defective? I-I mean... I-I-I don't want to be ru-rude or anything..." she asked him, though still nervous in her tone. At this, a bitter sneer crossed his eyes, though for the sake of remaining cordial he did not snap at Seele or Julia.. So, he just shook his head 'no'. It wasn't anyone's business after all, it was his secret. Something that Ishvati would carry close to his heart for as long as he lived. Julia would see his shaking head as his refusal to answer her question. Not wanting to push it any further, she gave a slight nod of her head and backed off from asking. "U-Um... i-i-in any case, w-w-we don't want t-to see you die... ri-right Seele?" Julia glanced over to Seele, as if asking for her agreement. "I'd agree on an impersonal level, yeah." "I truly do not understand the logic behind this, but very well." Ishvati let out a soft sigh, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the ceiling; strands of hair obscuring much of his sight. "O-Oh... s-still..." Julia glanced back to Ishvati, falling silent for a bit as if she was trying to recollect her thoughts after probably losing them for a second. Him running his hand through his hair had reminded her of something real quick, though that had to wait. "U-Um... i-i-if you want, w-w-we can be y-your comrades. O-O-Or something like th-that..." she offered, as if trying to make him feel at least a bit wanted or better. "We just don't want another person to die. We're yet to deal with the loss of a faithful ally." Who was this faithful ally she spoke of? If they were in the scene of the skirmish, they might recall that one conversation Frisch and Heiz had with Locar. This was something he likely would not try to pry into, simply because what little he knew of social interactions indicated that it was best not to ask those types of questions; still he couldn't help but recall the conversation between Frisch and Heiz, though his thoughts took on a less.. pleasant turn. "There is no point, once this is over I doubt we'll ever see each other again; camaraderie isn't necessary with me.. If you wish, you can simply forget I exist; it's better for all parties that way." "O-O-Oh... o-okay..." Julia took a long glance down at the floor. She didn't like the response he gave - but if that's what he wanted, she wouldn't force him to change his mind. "...We-Well, u-u-um... th-the offer's still there, i-i-if you change your m-mind... u-um... y-you're free to stay t-too, i-if you want... y-you don't have to th-though..." she said, giving him a quick glance before back down at the floor, in her usual shyly nervous state. "But still. I hope that you'd find it in yourself that you'd change your mind in the future," Seele hoped for his good—a soft smile etched along her lips. "And that even you dislike yourself, you'd find out that someone, even if it's just one, does like you. Perhaps more people do. All the more reason to like yourself even more." "..." He just remained silent, as if pondering the words Seele spoke; though his posture indicated that he was likely done talking about the subject for now. Frankly speaking he had no desire to engage in further conversation. Julia had joined in the silence while she just continued to stare at the floor. But then she remembered that thing from earlier, and rose her head to glance at Seele. "I-I just remembered something! U-Um... I-I-I'll be right back, Se-Seele!" she would say. Before Seele could even ask questions, Julia had suddenly ran out of the room. Now where did she dart off to? "And off she goes..." Seele muttered to herself as she could only look at her leave for a moment. Ishvati sort or just remained where he was, unable to pursue her any further to begin with; even if he did wonder where she went off to. With that said he chose to rest up and remain in the bed. After a few minutes had passed, the sounds of running footsteps could be heard from outside the room. A few seconds later, Julia entered the room with something in her left hand. "I-I'm back! U-Um... I-Ishvati, I-I-I got this f-for you," she said, holding out her left hand to hand him... a roll of bandages? Ishvati just stared at Julia in confusion, though said confusion was cleared away when he saw the roll of bandages; enough to properly cover his face again. This was unusual really, still, he stared at Julia for a moment before muttering a small thank you and grabbing the bandages, undoing the clip before applying them to his head with a meticulous precision to the motions. Julia was expecting to explain why she brought him the bandages - but it seemed she didn't have to, as Ishvati realized why. She would watch him apply the bandages to his head in order to conceal it again. She managed to hear his mutter and gave a small nod of her head. "Y-You're welcome," she said with a shy smile. It seemed after everything, she still chose to be kind to him. Such a strange woman. Indeed she was a strange woman, and strangely enough Ishvati found her kindness to be a little comforting. She was nicer than others that he had the dubious pleasure of talking to, he could say that comfortably. Despite her shy and nervous nature, she was indeed a caring and kind individual. Evident how she was still here after all. "U-Um... i-if you need an-anything else, ju-just ask," she offered, before taking a few steps back to sit down again, right next to Seele. Seele nodded slightly—no more words needed as Julia already said it for her. Meanwhile, outside the tent were Verzleinir, Darkstorm, the Prismites, and the Mobians. It was a time of revelation as to why the former came to attack them. "... If you say it like that... Then you trying to kill me was all a lie?" Frisch asked. Verzleinir nodded earnestly to his question. "Yes. I lied so that your comrades will take me seriously. But nooooo, they're all talk about saving their homeworld but continue to fling dumb attacks at me... which is a bad idea to defeat someone like Reginull. She's not some... massive goddess of some sort! Even then, she could just shrug them off like they're nothing." Heiz let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Good point, though you're kinda roasting them so hard..." "... You're one to talk for someone who loves getting up close and personal with the enemy," Frisch retorted. "Hey, don't lump me with them! I may get too excited but at least I could pull off better tricks!" "... Says the young man who got too cocky and got kicked in the chin." "Oh, shut up... Wait, how the hell did you n— Oh... Riiight." Meanwhile, just in the middle of the conversation with Verzleinir, there happened to be a heated familial conversation among Darkstorm and his children. Seems out of place though. "I will not have this conversation with you Teniahk," Darkstorm says only seeming to anger his daughter. "But Drakon betrayed your trust and got me and Tosha caught by the Serpenten Empire. The longer you wait to punish him the longer it takes for us to attain victory in this (redacted swear) war," Teniahk growls out. Jack is seen continue to try & master his water abilities, while Patricia continues to master more purple magic like diamond magic for good defence, Layla continues to master her lunar magic & dark magic, thou refusing to comment since they are laser focused on a new variety of attacks, elemental powers & magic. "We all have our priorities, Darkstorm & Teniahk. We all need to master more of a variety of our skills & powers if we all want to survive. This Hollow Empress is more of a dangerous threat than we realised," said Jack, feeling more focused on mastering water elements like creating different kinds of water attacks, like water tornados, rainstorms, ocean flood attacks & water manipulation, while practicing his Rainbow Cannon & his new Typhoon form, water based super form. "They're right on all accounts. This threat is driving us all apart & now we must train harder & be more focused than ever." Said Patricia, learning more purple magic, diamond/gemstone magic, psychic magic, holy light magic & Kitsune Saber / Kitsune Power Aura, Angel / Holy based super transformation. Layla on the other hand is still silent, not wanting everyone to die by the Hollow Empress's or any other powerful villain's hands, while she focused on lunar magic, dark magic, potion making, shadow / ghost magic, her Night Lunar Form transformation & her hidden unholy magic she tried to hide long ago, since her cursed bloodline, starting from her Medieval ancestor. All 3 training & focused under Verzleinir's instructions to become both stronger, faster & even smarter with their strategies. ... But whoosh came the breeze of silence. Verzleinir was still talking to them, after all! All the while, Frisch and Heiz just decided to sit down by the side, witnessing what the hell is happening all of a sudden. "What the hell is going on...?" Heiz asked, deeply concerned. "... Ever since the anomaly happened, they've been like this," Frisch answered. "... Just... leave them be." Aftet hearing what the two just said, Verzleinir just... sat there staring at them with confusion of what had suddenly transpired. "Uhh... It's good that you're training but... This all of a sudden?" Of course, something else was a tad amiss, nothing suspicious or evil or anything weird like that; rather it seemed like they had another visit; if the guard's reaction was of any real notice. See, what had happened was quite simple. A Mobian had heard the sounds of conflict while he was out hiking, and like any concerned citizen he chose to investigate. Only to find that yes, there was a battle that had been raging.. He would have investigated further but the guards practically stopped him. This Mobian was around two feet in height, wearing casual reddish violet plaid pajama pants, a casual grey short sleeved shirt with the words 'Still Mars' emblazoned in AC/DC font and colors. Further more he was wearing socks and sandals; his fur was dyed green and he wore Amber contact lenses; in addition he had some scarring on his right eye along with a lightning bolt tattoo. He seemed to disregard the guards, resting his hands in his pockets. "Chillax, I live around here anyways; it's a stupid little venture of mine." As everyone was busy talking, training, or nursing a bandaged warrior back to health, they all may hear that familiar sound of a jet turbine in the distance. Except it was getting closer and closer, though strangely it wasn't approaching as fast as it was before. Before anyone knew it, they could see a small black jet fly overhead, passing by the camp. Though strangely it was at a lower altitude and from the looks of it, was descending. While it seemed like it was merely passing by, most of everyone, if they looked (which was honestly hard to miss unless you were inside), may notice the direction it was going in. Towards Freedom HQ. Heiz looked at the sky, recalling the aircraft from before which pretty much demolished one of EggPlankton's important automatons. "Isn't that the aircraft that was flying around the forest a while ago...?" Verzleinir gaped a bit, intrigued. He did witness the mayhem with EggPlankton earlier, and its performance had piqued his interest. But he raised his eyebrows as he noticed Frisch make his leave. He wondered why, of course. "Wait! You're just leaving? I thought you saw something interesting in me..." "... That I have. I already gave you a chance, didn't I? Don't waste it; otherwise, I'll ensure your demise." Verzleinir actually let out an earnest smile when he heard such words. It was beyond his expectations. "Very well. I owe you one!" With that said, Frisch and Heiz walked off to Freedom HQ to check on the aircraft. After all, the pilot unwittingly helped them deal with EggPlankton a lot. "Sorry you had to see that, Verzleinir. The thing is that this Locar character said we were outclassed by him. We don't know if he's either arrogant, powerful or he is telling the truth. Even if we're just getting started on learning a variety of new moves & powers, it feels like we need to step up to the next level for all dimensions." Said Patricia, who is speaking out of honesty with a hint of guilt of their previous encounter with Locar, feeling that she, Jack & Layla doesn't want to let the entire team down. Considering that Locar practically trashed the three Mobians without even using most of his powers, though he cheated a bit with the snake staff, and Heiz had to save them from Locar's fire...? Yeah, definitely all three. Especially when previous accounts showed him going briefly toe to toe with Ishvati, a fellow Prismite. At least back on Crystialga. But does that mean they are connected? No one among them really knows. "Frankly, all three propositions are true," Verzleinir replied. "Not only that, you don't just need to train. You still have the chasm between you and the Prismites." He let out a sly smile, hinting he does knows something that had happened between them. But how? They would wonder. "After all, why would Frisch leave just now without telling you the reason?" Jack, Patricia & Layla slowly smile a bit from this revelation, beginning to realise what this means. "I think we know what that means." said Patricia, while thinking that this must be the reason why, Frisch really does care for the well being & safety of others, including the three of them. "Thank you for the nice pep talk," said Layla, smiling a bit, while she feels like that she, Jack & Patricia do not have to train & just focus on the upcoming battles for next time with teamwork & precision to at least make it up to the group somehow for their chasm between them & the Prismites. Verzleinir nodded once. "Anytime." He gazed upon the tent, as if to refer to it for his following words. "Probably should start with Seele and the shy woman—they're in the tent, after all. I'll leave the rest to you. Biz balt!" After suggesting the best courses they could possibly do at the moment, he suddenly disappeared in a faint gleam of light. Jack, Patricia & Layla look at each other & head inside the tent where Seele & Julia are at, now understanding that they should make it up to them first. Meanwhile, once the two Prismites had made it to Freedom HQ, they may notice something on the runway nearby. It was the same small jet from earlier, though now they can look at it more closely. There was a man standing right in front of it. He was a tall 6'3" with a sort of muscular body figure, implying he was physically in shape. The man also had short spiky brown hair with facial hair around his chin and mouth, along with yellow eyes. They were wearing what appeared to be body armor over a black bodysuit, the former of which already looked really tough and heavy. Yet he looked like he wasn't even bothered by it, in fact he was just casually leaning on the jet with his hands in his pockets, just taking a look around his surroundings. It's amazing he didn't notice the other three yet. But as soon as they got close, the feeling of another presence would loom over him. Frisch and Heiz were there, both adorned with their Raiments. The man did notice the two approach, and quickly faced them with a carefree expression on his face. "Sup," Was all he said upon the two Prismites' approach, and would continue to stand there by his jet. "... I commend you for lending us a hand earlier," Frisch remarked, a metallic rasp escaping from his helm, before their helmets dissipated into free Prismions as an act of welcoming him. When he was commended for helping them, the man looked... confused. "Uuumm, what? When did I-" then he stopped, having a sudden realization. "Wait a minute, were you involved in that censorshow? With the flying robot and, ah... whatever the hell those guys were doing in the forest?" "Correct. We managed to thwart what seemed to be an investigation of the anomalies occurring as of late, and they will kidnap those who know about it." "What, those guys? Pssh, from the way they tried to take me down they were practically amateurs. To their credit though they did surprise me a couple of times, nothing I couldn't handle though... ah, where are my manners?" The man held out his hand, which was wearing a fingerless glove. "Romar Schmitt, the Assassin of the Skies." To be continued in the next episode...